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Loading ...Exchanging Refrigerators and Air Conditioners to Combat Climate Change
Monday, July 9th, 2007The Environment Secretariat (SEA) of the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro (RJ) recently signed an agreement with a power company (Ampla) to initiate a program of the exchanging old refrigerators and air conditioners for new ones among the state’s poor families. A similar agreement is to be signed with Light, another power provider in […]
Brazil Decides to Take on Alcohol
Tuesday, May 29th, 2007Synopsis in English: Last week Brazilian authorities published in the official gazette the presidential decree setting out the new National Policy on Alcohol. The policy tackles not only alcohol dependency, but also social problems associated with alcohol consumption such as traffic accidents (drinking and driving) and violence. It was created by an inter-Ministerial group containing […]
Probable Impact of Climate Change on Brazil
Monday, May 21st, 2007The reports issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have stolen the headlines and thunder in the global and regional press, but in Brazil it was the release of eight country-focussed studies coordinated by that country’s National Institute for Space Studies (INPE) that caught the public’s attention. Taken together, the eight studies — […]
Do Tobacco Ad Bans Reduce Smoking Among Youth? Results of a Brazilian Study
Tuesday, January 30th, 2007In the most recent print edition of the international scientific journal Addictive Behaviors is an article* by researchers at the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp) about the impact of advertising on the smoking behavior of Brazilian youth aged 11-18. [An electronic version of the article was posted in November.] Although the researchers caution that […]
Recycling Coconuts I: More Than Just a Vessel for Agua de Coco
Saturday, October 28th, 2006The Next Time You Have a Cool Agua de Coco… Photos Courtesy of Coco Verde Have you ever stopped at a street vendor’s stand, a kiosk along the Malecon or at a shopping mall to have a coconut hacked open by machete so you can sip a cool agua de coco? And perhaps after you […]
Clean Shores I: International Coastal Clean-Up Day in LAC
Tuesday, October 10th, 2006ICC in St. Maarten / Photo: Rajesh Chintaman In my prior series on protecting coral reefs, I underlined the importance of keeping coastlines and coastal waters clear of trash/debris. In this first segment of a two parter on “clean shores,” I will examine the efforts of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to sensitize the public around the […]